As the use of wireless networking technologies in home environments increases, the need for ensuring high bandwidth and traffic prioritization increases. For example, much of the material transported over networks in the home environment is entertainment material, and most of this material is video and/or audio intensive. Audio and video materials require adequate average bandwidth as well as a certain level of reliable and timely transmission, perhaps ahead of other non-time sensitive information.
One way to allow interconnectivity of devices is through a wireless LAN. Wireless LANs are becoming an increasingly popular technology for interconnecting devices that are in close proximity (e.g., within the range of IEEE 802.11 technologies) to each other. The most common way to maintain a wireless LAN is in what is known as infrastructure mode. This mode entails the use of a specialized device known as an Access Point (AP). There is typically a single AP per wireless LAN and all the wireless stations (STAs) and the AP in a wireless LAN communicate using the same channel (frequency). Multiple wireless LANs may communicate with each other to form an extended wireless LAN. In addition to the AP and STAs in infrastructure mode, there may also be devices known as wireless repeater APs. A wireless repeater AP attaches to an AP as an STA but simultaneously advertises itself as another AP with the same network ID and channel number as the AP it is attached to.
An alternative manner of interconnecting wireless devices involves the use of what is known as “adhoc” mode. In this mode, there is no specialized AP device. An ad-hoc network can be formed for example when all the STAs that are to be a part of the adhoc network are configured with the same network name and security keys.
When two STAs communicate with each other through an AP (in infrastructure mode), the communication happens twice over the wireless link, once from the sending STA to the AP and then again from the AP to the receiving STA. FIG. 1 shows a networking environment 100 in which two STAs 101, 103 are communicating with each other through an AP 105. In this environment, all communications between STAs 101, 103 go over the wireless channel twice, once from the sending STA 101 to the AP 105 and then from the AP 105 to the receiving STA 103, resulting in wastage of wireless bandwidth. This can be appreciated when it is considered that a typical radio transmission is largely omnidirectional and fills the allotted channel locally. Thus, from the standpoint of channel usage, a radio transmission from an AP to an STA can be envisioned more as is shown in FIG. 2. Thus, when any radio transmission is ongoing in a particular locale, no other transmissions using the same channel in the same locale are possible. For the sake of clarity, radio transmissions will generally be illustrated herein as passing just between the parties to the communication, but it will be understood that radio transmissions are essentially omnidirectional.
The duplication of transmissions in a typical wireless LAN operating in infrastructure mode results in wastage of wireless bandwidth, e.g., data transfer capacity is approximately half of what it would optimally be. Such waste is generally undesirable, and is particularly problematic in home or other environments where the transmission of audio and/or video data requires high bandwidth and optimal channel usage.